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Jim Dawson

Jim Dawson is a screenwriter and novelist living in Hollywood, California, who has written music articles for The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and Goldmine. He has also written liner notes for more than sixty albums. Dawson is the author of several books, including Blame It on the Dog (Ten Speed), Who Cut the Cheese (Ten Speed), Rock Around the Clock (Backbeat) and Memories of Buddy Holly (Big Nickel). He is also the co-author of the classic books What Was the First Rock 'N' Roll Record? (Faber & Faber) and 45 RPM (Backbeat). His most recent, Did Someone Step on a Duck? is the third in a humorous trilogy and has been published by Ten Speed Press. In it, Dawson explores the universal issue of flatulence, and promises to get to its bottom.

Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart

by Jim Dawson

Did You Know: Dinosaurs who farted prodigiously over millions of years, probably contributed enough “greenhouse gas” to make the earth’s atmosphere habitable for humans; a fart in Jerusalem during Passover nearly two thousand years ago led to the deaths of 10,000 people; thanks to his chronic flatulence, Adolf Hitler became addicted to anti-fart pills whose toxic ingredients may have contributed to his dementia?

Yes, it all sounds like a lot of hot air, but we’re not pulling your leg (or your finger!). In Who Cut the Cheese?, the most comprehensive collection of fartlore ever compiled, author Jim Dawson blows the lid off traditional history to reveal the lingering effects of farting through the ages. In sweeping fashion, Dawson sniffs out the influence of flatulence in religion, science, music, literature, television, radio, and more. With additional chapters about farts on film (called “Gone with the Wind”) and French fartiste Le Petomane (probably the most famous windbag in history), this scatological inquiry is nearly as exhaustive as it is unnerving.

Blame It On the Dog: A Modern History of the Fart

by Jim Dawson

Did you know that James Joyce liked to smell his wife’s farts? That some fish communicate by expelling gas? Or that the Pentagon is developing weapons of mass olfactory destruction (WMOD)? From flatulent dogs and fart fetishists to poot-proof underwear and anti-stink pills, eminent fartologist Jim Dawson sniffs out the latest and greatest fart stories of the past century. Plumbing the far reaches of politics, pop culture, science, and literature, this stinker of a bathroom book will leave you gasping for air.